Royals Ship Bubic to LA, Completing a Deadline That Was Never Really About Competing

Kansas City traded Kris Bubic to the Dodgers on Monday, the second move in two days after sending Lane Thomas and Bailey Falter to Atlanta on Sunday. Both deals point the same direction. The Royals are 46–67, five games out of last place in the AL Central, and the front office has stopped pretending otherwise.

Bubic is on the 60-day IL with elbow and shoulder injuries, which makes the optics a little unusual — selling a pitcher who isn't pitching. But he posted a 3.47 ERA and 1.25 WHIP across 13 games before going down, and that's real value to a Dodgers club loading up for October. Kansas City got what it could for him. That's the job now.

The rotation picture left behind is bleak. Cole Ragans, Alec Marsh, Stephen Kolek, and several others are already on the 60-day IL. Michael Wacha — the team's other All-Star, carrying a 3.85 ERA across 26 starts — remains on the roster, and the trade speculation around him hasn't quieted. He's the one piece of genuine market value still in the building, and with 49 games left and an elimination number of 42, there's no competitive reason to hold him.

The offense has scored 2.9 runs per game over the last 10, Bobby Witt Jr. is on the IL, and Vinnie Pasquantino is back on the IL with a sore wrist. The Bubic trade didn't cause this season to end. It just acknowledged what the standings have been saying for weeks.